Part 3 (1/2)
”Loud and clear.” Ray smiled. ”But you've switched word pictures on me. First the sermon was a journey, now it's an eighteen-wheeler.”
”Buddy, you'll find that great a.n.a.logies are like great trucks: They all break down at some point.”
Ray sat back and watched the countryside pa.s.s by. Had the blank stares he'd seen from the congregation been confusion instead of boredom? Had he been serving water from a fire hydrant? Maybe he'd been trying to cram more information in his messages in an attempt to fill timea”or possibly to impress people. But one point? Could he preach an entire message around one point?
Ray broke the silence. ”Will, just how many imperatives are there?”
”What's that, Ray?”
”You said, Pick a Point is the second imperative of communication you learned from driving a truck. I was wondering how many there are.”
”Well, I don't know that I've actually counted them before. Let's see a ” Will began to squint and mumble as he searched his memory banks. ”Thirty or forty, I'd say.”
Ray sat stunned. ”Then I need more underwear,” he said, referring to the small overnight bag in the truck.
Will began to laugh. ”I'm just kidding, Ray. You've got plenty of underwear. There are only seven.”
5.
A MAP TO REMEMBER.
”Will, I have been wondering one thing.”
”What's that?”
”I don't want you to take this wrong but a ” Ray struggled to find the words.
”Spit it out, Ray. It takes a lot to hurt my feelings.”
”Well, you said we were going to talk about how to be a better communicator and you haven't mentioned anything about G.o.d or prayer. Is this all about human effort?”
”Yes.” Will said flatly.
Ray wasn't expecting that answer.
”Look, Ray,” Will broke the silence, ”neither you or I will ever have anything meaningful to say if G.o.d doesn't give it to us. The most important time you will spend in developing a message is the time you spend prayerfully searching the heart of G.o.d and His Word for your one point.”
”Sounds like there's a *but' coming.”
”But, once G.o.d has done His part, we have to do our part. And I've heard far too many preachers hide behind the excuse that it's up to the Holy Spirit to apply the message to the heart of the hearer and then not give the Holy Spirit anything to work with.”
Satisfied that Will wasn't a self-help guru, Ray pressed on, ”So what's the third imperative?”
”The third, which is near and dear to the heart of any trucker, is: Create a Map.”
Ray's idea of a good map was one that was easy to refold after he'd used it. ”Okay, so what do you mean by a map? Obviously you're not talking about something I can pick up at Triple A.”
Will laughed. ”As a trucker I used a map as a two-dimensional picture of a three-dimensional journey. A good map will allow you to find the best and most effective course for arriving at your destination. Like I said when we were discussing the second imperative, there are a lot of different ways to get to a particular location. As a driver, I had to find the most effective route for getting my cargo to its destination at exactly the time it needed to be there.
”You see, a lot of folks think a good map shows you all the possible options all the time, but for me that's a terrible map. When I set out on a trip I'd take my road atlas and map out my course on a sheet of paper. That would be my map. The atlas would have thousands of other twists and turns that would only get me in trouble.”
”And as a communicator you learned to narrow it down to one destination. Didn't we cover that already?”
”This is different, Ray. As a communicator, your goal is to get your audience to the final point of application. The map I'm talking about charts the course of your message.”
”So you're talking about an outline,” Ray said.
”No, I'm talking about a map. Outlines are designed to organize thoughts and ideas. They're usually a collection of points related to or loosely related to a topica”each one of those points making an entirely different statement about the topic.”
”Like my outline for the forgiveness message,” Ray said weakly.
”Exactly. You had a lot to say about forgiveness in your outline, but your outline didn't take you anywhere. It wasn't a ”
”A map.”
”Right! You see,” Will continued, ”outlines can end up being like an encyclopediaa”lots of good information that's dry and boring. People rarely curl up in bed with an encyclopedia. A map on the other hand leads people on a journey that engages them into a storya”just like the one you told me about your vacation.”
Ray was trying hard to get it. ”You keep saying *map.' So how literally am I supposed to take this? You sit down with paper and, what, colored pencils and crayons, and draw stuff?”
Will glanced over at his pa.s.senger. ”Do I look like the kind of guy who uses crayons, Ray?”
”Okay a so it's another a.n.a.logy. So how do you draw this map?”
”Usually I sit at my desk with a piece of paper and start with Roman numeral one,” Will said.
”It is an outline!” Ray said as if he'd caught the old man in a lie.
Will laughed. ”Does it make you feel better to call it an outline, Ray?”
”It makes me feel better to know that I might be doing something right.”
”Not so fast. Just because it looks like an outline, doesn't make it right. In my thinking there are two different kinds of outlines. One is informational and it's all about content. That's the kind of outline you work from. Four or five points that a ”
”Okay, okay, I get the picture,” Ray blurted out. ”What's the other kind of outline?”
Will began to wonder if he was pus.h.i.+ng Ray too hard. It had been a long day for him, even though it was only late afternoon. ”Maybe we should find a place to stop and take a break for a while.”
”I'm sorry, Will, I didn't mean to pop off. It's just that this is critical for me. I've given my life to this work anda”to think that I've been doing it wrong all this time a ” Ray's voice trailed off as he turned his face toward the window.
Will's voice softened a little. ”You know, Ray, right and wrong are pretty harsh terms sometimes. I'm sorry if I've made you think that my way is the right way and all others are wrong. That's not at all what I mean. G.o.d has used you to build a successful ministry, and people have been touched through the years. Never doubt it! I'm just trying to offer you another option that's worked well for me and a few others. Would you like to stop for a while?”
Ray considered the question. Since he had no idea where they were headed, it was difficult to know if this was a good time to stop. ”Will, just where are we going?”
”Oh, here and there. And if it's all the same to you, I'd like to keep going for a while. I know a spot up the road where we can pull off soon.”